Reading time ( words)
Wednesday at IPC APEX EXPO drew a fairly steady stream of attendees to the show floor. Exhibitors we spoke with said the visitors were ready to spend some money. Almost everyone said their company was having a good quarter and experiencing slow but consistent growth year over year. I remember covering this show in Anaheim during the early 2000s when attendees were handing out resumes, and this show is the polar opposite: Just about every company seems to be hiring now or considering expanding in the future.
Much of the talk on the show floor revolved around data, with IPC’s CFX (Connected Factory Exchange) taking center stage. Many of the exhibitors spoke of the need to provide their customers with accurate data, and in the right format. We have an abundance of data now, and automating this data was a big topic at IPC APEX EXPO this year.
On the M&A front, we ran into our friend Charlie Capers of Trilogy Circuits, fresh from his company’s acquisition by Zentech. He and Zentech’s John Vaughan and Steve Pudles seem to be a good fit, and they hung out in the I-Connect007 studio and talked about their plans for the company going forward. We also talked about Charlie’s new bass, of course!
I attended the IPC Awards Luncheon, and was happy to see that quite a few of our friends and contributors received honors, including Mike Creeden, Luke Hausherr, Kelly Dack, Steph Chavez, Cherie Litson, Michael Ford, Mike Carano, and Karen McConnell. Let’s give all of the award recipients a big hand for volunteering and contributing so much of their free time to improve this industry.
We ended the day at the Insulectro party, an annual gathering not to be missed. There was a new band this year: Sheriff Suzie, a country and Western band based in Las Vegas that includes members of Phat Strad, the all-girl violin bad that had graced the stage at the last few Insulectro parties. It was great seeing some buttoned-up engineers cut loose for an evening. John Lee and the Insulectro folks do a great job putting this party together every year.
It looks like Thursday will be a good day, so check back for updates.
